


Twilight Hours (and a side of fries)

by Boxysmiles



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: A couple others make appearances, M/M, fast food au, soft twilight hours
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-27
Updated: 2018-08-27
Packaged: 2019-07-03 07:23:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15814185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Boxysmiles/pseuds/Boxysmiles
Summary: Minghao works the overnight weekend shifts at a fast-food chain, making some extra money while he dances. Hansol is a student at the college nearby, appearing in Minghao's life due to deadlines and the desperate need for free wifi.(Chan just watches them from behind the counter, and desperately hopes that they'll just get together already to put them all out of their misery.)





	Twilight Hours (and a side of fries)

**Author's Note:**

> me, rocking up to the ficfest a week late because I'm the worst.  
> A huge, huge thank you to the creators of the fic-fest for my ultimate fave ship in SVT. Mingsol deserves all the love <3  
> (also as a general note, Minghao's shifts are 11pm-6am)

Two hours into his shift, Minghao’s already asked Jun three times now to swap with him.  
  
Junhui, unfortunately, got here just two minutes before Minghao and grabbed the headset, signing in his name to the drive-through register before Minghao could even clock in, leaving Minghao to do the restaurant orders.

Friday overnight drive-through usually start busy, with the nearby college campus allowing students to get their fast-food cravings sated before heading off to a party, the designated driver resigned to having to repeat what they’re saying three times over the cheers of everyone in the back.

That period is the _worst,_ because cars stack up constantly and there’s only Chan in the back making all the burgers, with Soonyoung occasionally stepping out the office to help when there’s just too many. Minghao watches over the fries station and packs the orders while the restaurant is quiet, Junhui giving him a thankful smile whenever he passes the bags.   
  
Still, the rush only lasts half an hour to an hour at most, and then Junhui can sit down on his phone and only deal with one or two cars every hour. Minghao, however, is now stuck cleaning the mess left on tables from drunk, high, and overall annoying customers for the next seven hours.   
  
Minghao’s talking to Chan, leaning against the boards, when Junhui calls for him. _It’s started,_ Minghao thinks in despair, and Chan laughs at his resulting sigh.   
  
He can hear the group of people before he sees them, and already knows he’s going to be cleaning up the tables and floor from all the rubbish this group is bound to leave behind. Five of them in total, cheering rowdily as they shove each other towards the counter.

“How can I help you?” His tone is flat, unamused, and he has no traces of a smile going. He can already hear Soonyoung’s voice chiding him for not using a pleasant customer-service tone with the group, but Minghao’s not having it. He _knows_ this group is going to be trouble, and they’re definitely too drunk to bother lodging a proper complaint against him anyway.   
  
It’s not like he _can’t_ be pleasant, he argues with Soonyoung’s voice in his head. After all, when dealing with a polite, attractive customer, his tone is even better than _Seokmin’s,_ who’s currently got more compliments in a week than everyone else combined has in two weeks _._   
  
Still, he’s definitely not going to waste time being pleasant with a group that are going to make his tired self even more tired of life. The group, as expected, change their mind about their order constantly, and then after - when it comes to paying - tell Minghao they want to split it.   
  
He’s beginning to wonder if it’s worth just calling out Soonyoung’s name and letting him deal with the group, but finally the group works it out and the payments go through. The amount of time spent messing around with the payment means that Chan’s already gotten through most of the burgers, and Junhui’s doing the drinks for him.

He never bothered asking the “dine in or take-away?” line because this group is getting a damn take-away bag no matter what, because Minghao wants them _out._ And even if they stay, throwing away all their rubbish will be easier than having to clean up a couple trays.

Minghao packs the order, sighing to himself when he sees two guys walk in through the doors. He’d rather keep his eye on the big group, but the two have thankfully come in quietly and are hanging back as Minghao finishes up.

The group take their couple of bags and Minghao’s hoping they’ll walk right out the door, but unfortunately it just doesn’t happen. They turn and walk behind the wall next to the counter, where the booths sit out of sight to everything except the security cameras.  
  
The two guys are still hanging back, gesturing to the boards displaying their products above Minghao’s head. One of them has one earphone in, the other having headphones around his neck, and are talking in hushed voices.   
  
They won’t be trouble, at least, and Minghao even lets himself hope that the two will actually put their rubbish in either of the two bins. Even better, they’ll take the bags and walk right out.

Minghao stares off to the side as one of them goes to sit down, thankfully in sight of Minghao, and puts his headphones on. It dashes his hopes of them taking the bags and leaving, but he’ll take what he can. The other hesitates before eventually approaching, taking out the other earphone as he walks up.

 _He’s cute,_ Minghao thinks, even if his tie-dye shirt is a little bit of a tragedy. His hair’s a mess too, peeking out from underneath the beanie he’s got on, but there’s no denying he’s attractive. Usually customers at this time are most likely high, usually walking from campus, and with that shirt he’s wearing Minghao wouldn’t be surprised.

“Hey, how’re you?” He asks before Minghao can, because Minghao’s all too distracted with how attractive he is. His speech is fine, though, and his eyes look clear - just tired, if anything. The tired students are rarer, but Minghao’s seen his fair share.

The guy’s sight is still up on the boards, and then flickers down when Minghao answers. “Good, how about you?” Which is all Minghao can manage as a response, because it’s an automatic one now.

“Yeah, good, good, and yourself?”   
  
And Minghao can _feel_ how much the guy wants to die at the exact second he realises what he’s just said. His eyes widen and his cheeks flush, and he ducks his head down. “I- Sorry,” he laughs embarrassedly, and Minghao just waves it off.   
  
“Late night?” He asks, and the other sighs.

“Yeah, or at least it’s going to be. Deadlines and all,” he explains, and Minghao hums sympathetically.

“Fast food is one way to comfort yourself at least,” Minghao offers, and the other laughs - and, fuck, Minghao’s voice better fucking _not_ go any higher in his gay-panic.   
  
“Not going to lie, that’s why we’re here. Also for the free wifi.”   
  
“Isn’t there wifi on campus?” And Minghao panics the second he says it because the guy might not even _be_ a student, after all. “If you’re at Pledis College, I mean.”   
  
“Yeah, yeah I am,” he thankfully replies, “But something’s wrong with my login details and I can’t get in, so I figured I may as well come here and eat. And steal the wifi, obviously.”   
  
“Obviously,” Minghao parrots, because his brain is not giving him any better options here other than _fuck he’s cute._ “So, what can I get for you?”   
  
It’s a thankfully simple order, and Minghao asks if it’s take-away or dine-in because he wouldn’t actually mind the other hanging around. Dine-in, thankfully, and Minghao gets to work on getting the order done.

Junhui looks over at Minghao, then over at the customer, and gives Minghao a knowing smirk. Minghao flicks the mic of his headset up in retaliation, because the shit didn’t even do Minghao’s drinks for him.   
  
“Swap with me,” Minghao pleads, and Junhui laughs at him.

“I saw that group earlier, no thanks,” Junhui replies. “Besides, you can’t tell me you wouldn’t have been jealous if I’d served this guy.”  
  
It’s a good point. Minghao’s just going to have to hold on to the fact he’s been able to interact with this one hot guy even when he gets slammed by the post-party drunk kids later on.

Two burgers, two sets of fries, one strawberry and one chocolate thickshake later, Minghao slides the tray over the counter. The other beams at him, grabbing two straws.

“Thanks a lot,” the hot guy says, and Minghao is honestly so tempted to just throw it all away and say _you’re stupidly cute, I finish in five hours, let’s go out to coffee or something._ Thankfully, he shuts his mouth and just passes over the tray with a smile.

“No worries, let me know if I can do anything else for you,” He manages to get out, and mentally adds a _please, anything at all. Anything._

The cute guy nods and takes the tray over. It looks like they’re both settling in, opening up their laptops and notebooks, and Minghao figures he should probably stop staring.

Junhui’s laughing at him when he walks over. “You’re too obvious.”

“And you’re too annoying.” He turns back towards Chan, calling his name. “Isn’t Jun annoying?”

“Yep,” Chan agrees, because Chan is always ready to start a fight in these hours.

Junhui sighs dramatically, shaking his head. “Remember the days you were too timid to say anything and always rocked up in the right uniform?”

“That lasted all of one shift,” Chan points out, and Minghao laughs because it’s true. Chan’s wearing the bare-minimum for passable footwear, definitely isn’t wearing the rights pants, and his name-tag was lost long ago and never replaced. His hair is also definitely _not_ a natural colour, but neither is any of theirs right now, so not even Soonyoung can say shit.

Junhui’s saved by the _ding_ of a car pulling up to the speaker, and he continues to shake his head as he takes the order. Chan rolls his eyes and goes to make the burger, leaving Minghao to pack again.   
  
He can hear the loud conversation of the group from behind the wall, and Minghao looks over to the other two customers as they work. They look focused, and Minghao can’t help the smile at the way that the one who talked to him has his tongue poked out as he furiously writes in his notebook.   
  
Minghao feels Junhui slink up behind him, looking where he’s looking. Minghao whips around, barely stopping himself in time from hitting Junhui with the bag, knowing the customers in the car can see.   
  
He shoves the fries in a little more aggressively than needed, then gives the bag to Junhui. “Don’t you _dare,”_ he warns, and Junhui throws his hands up in surrender.

It’s uneventful, surprisingly, for a while. Due dates, perhaps, are looming a bit too close for everyone to be able to go out and party, giving them a quieter shift. Just as the rowdy group begin to _finally_ leave, Minghao watching as none of them walk up to the bins to put their stuff in, the drive-through beeps twice.   
  
The first car, of course, orders nothing less than _twelve goddamn thickshakes._ Junhui and Minghao give each other a look, and Minghao sighs heavily as he goes over to the machine to make them. The second car, right behind, orders ten soft serves.

All Minghao wants to do is clean the restaurant, and here he is instead, hoping that the thickshake machine doesn’t run out of mix before he’s done. And then that the ice-cream machine doesn’t splatter everywhere.  
  
And - damn, the cute guy is standing at the counter, obviously wanting something. Minghao shoots him an apologetic smile as he passes by, giving Junhui two of the three trays of ice-cream. He’s about to start making the last lot, but Junhui stops him and gestures to the guy, giving Minghao a wink.

Minghao sticks his tongue out at him, but is thankful he doesn’t have to deal with the temperamental ice-cream machine for the moment.   
  
“Hey, sorry, is it possible I can refill my water bottle or something? I - wait, I should probably just buy the water, shouldn’t I?” The cute guy fumbles for his wallet, and Minghao huffs out a laugh.

“Don’t worry about it. Here, pass me your bottle.” Minghao holds his hand out, and the other’s eyes widen in surprise, quickly shoving his wallet back in his back pocket before going back to his table and grabbing his bottle. He passes it over, thank-yous spilling over the top of each other.

There’s water in one of the soda dispensers that the staff use for their own drinks, and Minghao goes about filling the bottle. When he turns back, the other is walking back from one of the bins, and Minghao gives him a grateful smile as he passes the bottle back.

“How’s the work going?” He finds himself asking, and the other just laughs nervously.  
  
“Ah, yeah, I mean we’ve definitely got more done than when we first came in, so that’s something I suppose.”

“Definitely,” Minghao says, and just as he’s about to maybe ask another question, he sees a group approaching the front door. Hansol follows his gaze and gives Minghao a small smile.

“Thanks again, really.” And with that the cute guy is turning back, sitting down at the table with his friend. Minghao lets himself mourn his company and his polite (and sober) attitude before dealing with the next group coming in.

They’re thankfully less rowdier than the last, but unfortunately it happens like a wave: one group comes in, and then another, and another, until there’s a line almost out the door. Minghao is trying to take a couple at a time, and then help Junhui pack all the orders, but all in all it takes a while before the wave clears out.

Minghao glances back at the right moment to see that the cute guy and his friend are walking out the door, and the cute guy catches his eye and gives him a wave as he walks out. Minghao smiles back, and then gets back to work.

It’s 2:37 AM when the orders calm down enough for Minghao, Chan and Junhui to relax.

“I fucking _hate_ restaurant,” Minghao complains again, and Junhui just pats his back.

“Yeah, but at least you don’t have to clean up after that first group and the cute guy,” Junhui comforts, and it takes Minghao a moment before he curses, remembering the mess he _still_ hasn’t had the chance to clean from the first rowdy group.

“Wait,” Minghao pauses, “what do you mean ‘don’t have to clean up’?”

“Oh, the _guy,”_ Junhui emphasises, nudging Minghao with his elbow, “cleaned it up while you weren’t looking. Handsome and a decent human being, I think it might just work for you.”

And here’s the thing about overnight: honestly, sometimes, there’s moments that don’t even feel real. Those weird twilight hours that give everything this little unreal quality, makes everything a little blurry around the edges. And right now, the cute boy that even _cleaned up other’s rubbish_ is certainly feeling a little unreal.   
  
After all, he probably won’t see the other around again - for his sake, Minghao hopes he sorts out his time-management skills and wifi issues.

So when Minghao clasps a hand over his heart, he’s being dramatic and joking entirely when he says: “Junhui, I might just be in love.”  


* * *

 

He definitely doesn’t expect to see the cute boy the next night.   
  
It’s Saturday night, meaning Junhui’s not on overnight as he has an early dance class in the morning, and it means Mingyu is the one to beat Minghao to the drive-through this time _._

Minghao’s honestly considering begging to Soonyoung to just force them to swap, because after all the mess Minghao cleaned yesterday he’s really not feeling like dealing with anyone that can’t just make a mess in their own car.

He doesn’t, because he’s not _that_ desperate, but it’s a near thing. Mingyu is nicer about it at least, apologising and even helping Minghao clean up the restaurant a bit, but even he refuses to give up the headset. 

It’s quiet, just past midnight when the boy walks in, this time with another friend. Minghao can feel himself stop in surprise, and Mingyu - damn him - catches on, looking at the two new customers.

“Oh, you know them?” Mingyu asks, and Minghao pulls himself together and shakes his head.

“No, one was here last night,” Minghao answers. Mingyu hums, then tilts his head like he’s trying to work something out.

“Wait, I know them,” Mingyu realises, and Minghao’s about to ask _how_ before the drive-through goes off. Mingyu doesn’t bother explaining before pressing the button to speak, leaving Minghao to deal with the two.

“Hey, back again?” Minghao asks when it looks like they’re ready to order, stepping up to the counter. The one Minghao talked to previously laughs sheepishly, rubbing his neck.

“Yeah, hopefully just wrapping up tonight. Uh, can we just get two large shakes? Strawberry and vanilla.”

The other elbows the one talking when Minghao walks over to the shake machine, and gets a shake of his head in return. He’s too far to hear what they say between each other, making the shakes quietly.

When he walks back, Mingyu’s talking to them casually. Minghao awkwardly slides the drinks across the counter, and they both send him grateful smiles.

“Minghao, this is Hansol and Seungcheol. We had a class together last semester,” Mingyu introduces, and Minghao gives both of them a little wave.

“Hey,” both himself and the cute one - Hansol - say at the same time, and Seungcheol gives his own little nod.

Minghao’s pulled from the conversation due to a customer walking in, going straight to the counter like they’re ready to order immediately - and then, when Minghao goes up to them, has to stand there awkwardly for five minutes while they decide.

In that time, Hansol and Seungcheol have gone to sit down, both pulling out their laptops and focusing on their work. Mingyu’s talking to Chan while he makes the order, and Minghao goes to join them.

And Chan turns to Minghao with a look that Minghao already knows he’s going to suffer for, because Chan likes to make them all suffer.

“Mingyu,” Chan says innocently, like he’s not about to ruin Minghao’s life, “Did you know Minghao’s in love?”

“ _What?”_ They both say, because Minghao certainly has no recollection of being in love with anyone. Chan raises an eyebrow at their loud exclamation, gaze looking out to the restaurant.

And then it clicks.

“ _Don’t,”_ Minghao hisses in warning, because here’s the thing: Chan’s a good kid - he is, really, has his head on straight, heart in the right place, works quietly and works hard, and Minghao’s pretty sure that Chan could at the very least owe him this goddamn much.

Chan doesn’t seem to think so. “He declared his love to Junhui last night for one of those guys.”

“I will order fifty cheeseburgers _myself,”_ Minghao threatens, because what’s $100 in exchange for keeping his dignity?   
  
“Do it,” Chan challenges, sliding the finished burgers down. Minghao glares at him while he packs them, hurriedly turning and calling out the order. He turns back just in time to see Chan pointing at Hansol.

“Oh my _god,”_ he mutters, quickly pushing Chan’s hand down. “I’m throwing you in the deep fryer.”   
  
“You don’t even know how to make a cheeseburger,” Chan points out, and Mingyu steps between them.

“Okay, listen, no throwing each other in the deep-fryer, because Soonyoung’ll be pissed.”

“I sure will be,” Soonyoung suddenly says from behind Minghao, surprising all three of them. “Why are we threatening to throw each other into oil again?”

“ _B_ _ecause I’m at this job,”_ Minghao says, right as Chan delightedly exclaims “Minghao has a crush.”   
  
Soonyoung’s eyes widen, and _oh no._ “Oh my god, what? Tell me!”

Minghao hurriedly hushes him, and Soonyoung lights up in excitement. “Wait, he’s _here?”_

“No! Listen, it’s not a crush,” Minghao keeps his voice quiet, worriedly glancing over at restaurant. Thankfully, the two haven’t seem to have noticed their conversation - but Minghao’s not taking chances. “I didn’t even know his name until fifteen minutes ago. He’s just attractive, that’s all.”

“But he’s in the restaurant then?” Soonyoung decidedly ignores Minghao’s protests, walking so that he could see the two sitting at the table. “Oh, it’s Cheol and Hansol!”

“Oh my god he knows them,” Minghao bemoans, and Mingyu and Chan both laugh at his suffering.

Soonyoung walks back over to them with a big grin on his face. “So, which one?”

“Hansol,” Mingyu answers for him, and Minghao groans.

“Stop, oh my god, he’s attractive and that’s it, I’m not going to go marry him or something,” Minghao complains.

“Not with that attitude,” Chan argues, at the same time that Soonyoung says “well no, you generally have to ask them on a date first.”

“ _I’m not going to date him,”_ Minghao emphasises, and Soonyoung frowns.

“Why not? He’s a cool dude, creative, _single.”_

“How do you even know him?” Minghao asks, pointedly ignoring Soonyoung’s last comment.

“Seungcheol and I hang out with Jihoon a lot, Hansol’s come along a few times. He’s a really cool dude though, very chill, has a different way of looking at things. You’d get along, I reckon.”

Minghao is about to tell Soonyoung his opinion means _nothing_ because he’s the one that hired Chan - the little brat - in the first place, but is stopped by Mingyu nudging him in his side and looking pointedly at the counter.

Minghao gives them all a glare before turning and walking up to the customer, taking their order of two small fries and a drink. He can still hear the other three gossiping, but thankfully they’re keeping their voices lower so that no one else can hear them properly.

“Please stop,” Minghao begs, but the tone comes out more tired than annoyed, so they don’t bother acknowledging him. Mingyu, at least, feels some sort of guilt because he’s doing Minghao’s order for him.

“You should just ask him out for a drink or something,” Soonyoung encourages, and Minghao sighs.

“I’ve talked to him maybe three times, and that was as someone taking his order. I think many people are attractive, just so you know, and I told Jun that as a joke,” Minghao explains, and Soonyoung gives him a considerate glance.

“What have you got to lose?”  
  
“Uh, my dignity for one, and _you_ might lose his business because who wants to come back to a place after rejecting a worker that asked you out for a drink?”

“He probably won’t reject you,” Soonyoung argues, and Minghao shakes his head.

“Don’t, okay?”

The tone makes Soonyoung hesitate, deflating a little as he concedes. “Fine. But stop thinking so low of yourself.”

Minghao rolls his eyes, because it’s hard not to when he’s stuck here on Saturday nights instead of going out and socialising or something. Unfortunately, his friends mostly consist of whoever work here, because after moving here he hasn’t really gone out to socialise and make friends.

Soonyoung pats his arm before heading back to his office, probably doing nothing actually important. Still, he’s left Minghao alone, and that’s all he needed.

The hours pass slowly, as surprisingly few actually come through for a while. It starts to pick up around 3AM, groups of friends walking in and ordering whatever it is to satisfy their drunk and high cravings.

At the tail-end of the rush, Hansol comes up to the counter. “Hey, can I just get some small chips?”

He prepares to hand over the change for it, but Minghao shakes his head. “Yeah, give me a sec.”

Hansol’s so confused that it takes him a few seconds to go “wait, what?”, but by that time Minghao’s already at the fry station, shovelling them into a large. The fries are fresh, thanks to the rush, and Minghao hands them to Hansol.

“You can’t - here, just take-” Hansol hasn’t taken the bag, and is trying to push the change across the counter.

“Nope,” Minghao insists, shaking his head. “It’s my thanks for you cleaning the table last night.”

It takes Hansol a moment before he seems to remember, and his cheeks flush. “That was nothing, I don’t need anything as a thanks, seriously let me pay for this.”

“I know you didn’t want anything, but I’m giving it anyway because I never got a chance to say thank you yesterday.”

Hansol hesitates, but finally accepts the bag. “Thanks. Really. D - did you uh, want any?”

Minghao shakes his head. “I’m all good, I get a break soon anyway.”

Hansol nods, reaching into the bag and eating a couple of the fries. “So, are you here every night?”

“Just weekends.”

“Oh, cool. Do you go to college then?”

The question doesn’t bother Minghao as much as it sometimes does. “I don’t, actually. I just live near the campus.”

Hansol lets out a little “hm”, nodding considerately. Minghao glances back at Chan, hoping he’s not listening into their conversation, before explaining further to Hansol. “I uh, didn’t really know what to do.- But I’m currently teaching dance classes, so that helps.”

“That’s sick, I suppose you like dancing then?”

Minghao lets the proud little smile show on his face for a moment. “Yeah, I love it. I’m in a crew with a few others, so that’s fun.”

Hansol genuinely looks excited and awed by the information, leaning forward in interest. “I don’t know a lot about dancing, but that’s so cool! Do you like do all those dance battles and stuff?”

“Sometimes,” Minghao admits, “but mostly just competitions, or public sort of shows. How about you, what are you studying that’s got you here at 3 in the morning?”

“Ah, music actually,” Hansol replies, “I really like the production side, and doing my own stuff is nice. There’s just a theory essay I sort of didn’t realise was due so soon.”

“Well, can’t say I relate,” Minghao laughs, and Hansol does too.

“Yeah, can’t say I’m not jealous. Seems like you’re doing well with dance too, looks like you’ve got it all figured out.”  
  
“The furthest thing from, really, but I appreciate the thought.”

“Hansol!” Seungcheol calls out, “my fries are going to get cold!”

Hansol laughs, giving Minghao an apologetic look. “Thank you again for these.”

The pair stay around for another hour or so before they finally start packing up, Hansol and Seungcheol waving to all of them behind the counter.

As soon as they’re out the door, Minghao announces he’s going on break. Soonyoung laughs disbelievingly at him, already figuring out that he’s escaping any pestering questions. He lets him go, and Minghao spends the next half hour out of sight of all three of them on his phone.

He refuses to talk about it when he returns and they immediately pester him, but Mingyu and Chan share a worryingly similar look, and Minghao almost hopes for his sake that Hansol doesn’t come by again.

Almost.

 

* * *

 

Hansol’s already there by the time Minghao walks in for his shift on Sunday. He’s alone this time, and Minghao’s considering walking by him silently, but they catch eyes and Minghao walks over to him.

“How’s the essay going?” He asks after they share greetings, and Hansol lets out a displeased noise.

“It’s mostly done, just some referencing to do now. I have an early class tomorrow so I want it to be finished soon.”

“When’s it due?”  
  
“5PM this Friday. But I don’t have the time during the week to do it, so here I am.”   
  
“Best of luck with it. I better clock in, but let me know if you need anything,” Minghao says, and Hansol smiles at him and nods. And Minghao curses himself because of _course_ Hansol’s going to tell him if he needs anything, he’s the one that goddamn works here.

“You’re on front,” Soonyoung says immediately to him, and Minghao stares in disbelief.

“I’m here before Jun!”

“Yes, congratulations, your till is already on the front counter. Go and sign in now.”

“ _Why_ am I on front, Soonyoung?”

“Because I put you there.” A pause, in which Minghao gives him an unimpressed look, because he knows Soonyoung is no good at keeping plans to himself. “Okay, fine, I saw Hansol sitting there.”

“Oh my _god.”_ Minghao feels himself die a little inside, knowing Soonyoung put him on front purely to be able to talk to Hansol. “I’m telling you, we’re not a _thing.”_

Soonyoung shoos him from the office, and Minghao is slightly aggressively typing his number to the register when Junhui finally walks in, one whole minute late. He sees Minghao, and looks completely confused until his eyes scan over Hansol.

“I hate this,” Minghao complains to him, and Junhui just laughs. Bastard.

And, okay, Minghao doesn’t want to admit it, but he is sort of glad he gets to talk to Hansol again.

“Here by yourself this time?” He asks when Hansol approaches the counter, and the other smiles a little.

“Yeah, I didn’t want to drag anyone out of bed. Besides, all their wifi accounts are fine.”

Right, the wifi account. Which will probably be fixed by the end of the week, and then Minghao can return to his usual weekend shifts _without_ worrying about a cute guy. He can see it now, life post-Hansol, where he never sees the other again, and there’s no teasing from the others, no stupid butterflies in his stomach, no pleasant, easy conversations, no -

Okay, life post-Hansol isn’t looking so great. But it’s _fine,_ he tells himself, because Hansol is only here for the weekend, and then he’ll move on, and life will resume as it always does. Minghao isn’t allowed to miss him.

Maybe he should ask for his number, or something, at the least. Maybe ask the others to set up a big friends group meeting.

“Fair enough. Is it safe to walk back by yourself though?” Minghao can’t help but worry, because while the area is generally safe, there’s still something that makes him uneasy about anyone wandering around in the early hours.

“Yeah, I’ll be okay. Anyway, could I just get a small strawberry shake?”

Minghao lets him pay for a small, but ends up giving him a large anyway. Hansol smiles when he sees it, but shakes his head in mock-disapproval.

“Energy for those references,” Minghao reasons, and Hansol grins even wider, but then suddenly turns serious.

“Please don’t get in trouble for me,” he pleads, and Minghao just shrugs.

“It’s fine, I promise. Soonyoung doesn’t care.”

“Wait, _Soonyoung,_ as in Kwon Soonyoung works here?”

“Yeah, he’s the overnight manager. Did you want me to get him?” He offers, gesturing to the back office. But, _speak of the devil and he shall appear,_ and Soonyoung walks out of the office. Hansol lights up even more, waving.

Soonyoung walks over, too bright and cheery for midnight. He ruffles Hansol’s hair, and god - it’s so _soft_ and fluffy, Minghao’s letting the hour make him soft as well.

Minghao walks away to give them a moment, because Junhui’s drive-through goes off and it’s a weirdly big order for the time of night. He puts down fries and nuggets for it, Junhui coming up to him once he’s got the car in the waiting bar.

“So, they know each other then?” Junhui asks, gesturing to the two. Soonyoung’s talking with animated hands, and Hansol’s nodding encouragingly along, making exaggerated facial expressions at all the right moments. It’s cute, and Minghao hates to notice it.

“Yeah, everyone seems to.”

“I don’t,” Chan suddenly pipes up, and Minghao turns around to glare playfully.

“ _You’re_ the reason I’m on front, I don’t exactly like you right now.”

“Yes you do,” Chan sing-songs, grinning all too knowingly at him.

“Wait, how is Chan the reason you’re on front?” Junhui asks, obviously lost to the conversation.

“I told Soonyoung that he thinks Hansol is cute and that he’s in love.”

“I’m _not_ in love!” Minghao stage-whispers, not quite bringing himself to muster the angry tone he was hoping for.

“Sure sure,” Chan brushes off, and Minghao grumbles under his breath.

“Wow, I feel like I missed something,” Junhui says, and Minghao whips around to say he didn’t, but Chan’s already opening his mouth.

“Yeah, hours of Minghao making heart-eyes last night.”

Minghao was _not._

He’s saved from retaliation by Soonyoung walking up to them, still looking all too cheerful for the hour it is. Hansol’s gone to sit back down, headphones thankfully on, and Minghao only wishes he could do the same. Instead, he meets Soonyoung and pulls him back out of earshot of the other two.

“Listen, after tonight he probably won’t ever be back, so please don’t, okay?” Minghao says quietly, only to Soonyoung, who gives him a devastatingly sad look. But Minghao’s not going to relent, because right now he isn’t up for this.

“You really should ask for his number, Hao,” Soonyoung advises, voice as sad as his expression.

Minghao’s quiet, and Soonyoung looks a little less sad suddenly. “You’re considering it already, aren’t you? You should, really!”

“I - I’m thinking about it, okay? But drop it for now, please.”

Soonyoung sighs, but relents, going back to the other two only to help Chan stock up and prep items for tomorrow’s crew.

An hour and a half later, Hansol comes up to the counter, smiling widely as he stretches his arms above his head. “Almost there! Last edit, and then I think I’m happy with it.”

“Aye,” Minghao draws out in celebration, “that’s awesome!”

“I’m so glad,” Hansol admits, and then tilts his head and Minghao can hear his neck crack from where he stands, both of them wincing. “I just needed to get up and stretch for a bit before doing that, though.”

“Minghao,” Soonyoung suddenly says, poking his head around the corner, “go on break.”

Minghao gives Soonyoung an unamused look because he knows exactly why he’s on break at this exact moment, but he lets it go. _This is the last couple of hours, anyway._

“Sorry, back in a moment,” Minghao says to Hansol, going to the office to punch in his break, then goes to the staff room to take off the hat and apron, grabbing his phone and muesli bar.

Hansol’s still at the counter, looking up from his phone when Minghao approaches. “Hey, uh, if you didn’t mind, could you look over some things for me? I just need an outsider’s perspective on how it reads. You don’t have to of course, it’s your break, I understand if you’re doing something else.”

Hansol’s sounding a bit panicked at the end, and Minghao does his best to reassure him by smiling. “Yeah, I wouldn’t mind. Certainly more interesting than a 3AM social media scroll.”

They walk over to the booth, and Minghao sits down - all too aware of how close he is to Hansol now. Hansol slides the laptop over to him, and Minghao hesitates. “You should probably know that Korean isn’t my first language.”

“I figured, but if you’re comfortable, just read over this part… and this one,” He highlights the paragraphs he’s talking about, and Minghao gets to work.

He’s nervous, and he’s overthinking about how slow he’s reading and sort of panicking about it, and he’s struggling to put some sentences together. Hansol picks up on this, humming in consideration.

“Actually, I think you’re the best to help here, I was wondering if I should change that sentence,” Hansol mumbles to himself, going into the sentence and editing it, and Minghao re-reads it a lot easier than the first one.

It goes on, until Minghao’s phone buzzes with the timer, making both of them startle. He’s officially got two minutes left of his break, and Minghao turns to Hansol, apology already spilling out his lips.

“Sorry, I wish I could have gotten through more, but I only get half an hour,” Minghao explains, and Hansol’s shaking his head, awkwardly standing when Minghao moves to do so.

“No, don’t apologise! Sorry for taking up your break with this-”

“Did it help?” Minghao interrupts, and Hansol immediately begins to nod.

“Definitely!”

“Then I really don’t mind, I’m glad I could help. It sounds really good, Hansol, it’ll be fine.”

Hansol lets out a relieved breath. “Thanks, seriously. Y - You should get going.”

Minghao nods, and there’s something sitting at the tip of his tongue, something he wants to say, but he can’t get it out. His head is sort of spinning, his tongue twisted, and all he can do is smile a little as he steps out from the table.

“Walk home safely, okay?” Minghao says seriously, and Hansol nods, promising him.

Minghao clocks back in, cursing himself for not asking Hansol for his contact details, for a drink, to see him outside any time of these weird, twilight hours from this weekend. But he didn’t, and now he’s probably missed his chance, and all he can do is wave as Hansol walks out the door.

 

* * *

 

By the time his Friday shift comes around, Minghao’s already told himself many times to accept that he’ll probably never see Hansol again, that Hansol should be left behind in his memories as a “what if” or a “could never be”.

So when Hansol walks in at 1 in the morning, Minghao’s not entirely convinced he’s not dreaming. It’s about time he fell asleep on one of these overnights, he had it coming, and it seems that night is tonight.

But Hansol walks up to the counter and smiles, a little shyly, and Minghao figures maybe it’s _not_ fake.

“Hey, I didn’t expect to see you,” Minghao admits, and then tries to calm his cheeks down because _way to sound desperate._

“Yeah, they still haven’t fixed my wifi issue so I figured I may as well come back,” Hansol replies.

“How’d your essay go, did you get it in?” Minghao asks, and Hansol thankfully nods.

“Yeah, I had to use my phone hotspot to do it but it’s definitely in. Unfortunately, more deadlines await me.”

“No break, huh? Anyway, did you want to order anything?”

Hansol walks away with one strawberry thickshake, and Minghao turns to see the smiling faces off Junhui, Chan, and even Soonyoung. He sighs, settling himself in for their comments.

Thankfully, they go pretty easy on him - Minghao suspecting that Soonyoung probably had something to do with it. It’s really not so bad, and honestly Minghao’s glad to have them as friends. Even if Chan is relentless.

The following night, Hansol appears again. And the night after that.

And Minghao prepares himself to not see Hansol again, because this is it, a second week was just too good to be true, and when Soonyoung had put in his break again on Sunday while Hansol was still here, their conversation was easy, pleasant, something Minghao wants to both hold dear, and push away so it hurts less when Hansol doesn’t come back.

But he does, for a third week. And a fourth.

On the fourth, though, Hansol walks in with his hair more dishevelled than Minghao’s ever seen it, a slump in his shoulders, and bags under his eyes that have Minghao worried.

“Are you sure you should be here?” Minghao asks immediately, ignoring the strange look he gets from the other customer he just served.

Hansol yawns before he can even reply, then gives Minghao a small smile. It’s tired, barely pulling up, but Minghao gets a little bit happier with just about any smile from him.

“Probably not, but deadlines.”

“Do you like to leave all your deadlines to deal with around midnight on the weekend?”

Hansol rubs one eye as he shakes his head, fingers then sliding through his hair. “This isn’t for college, actually, just a little work.”

“Haven’t they fixed your wifi yet?” Minghao asks, surprised, and Hansol seems to be as well.

“Well, uh,” he yawns again, “not yet. Soon, I guess.”

Minghao almost says ‘hopefully they fix it’, but honestly doesn’t want Hansol to consider that Minghao doesn’t enjoy his company. “Can I offer any comfort fast-food?”

At that, Hansol’s mouth actually turns town at the corners. “Ah, maybe not yet? I think this whole thing is stressing me out too much to stomach it at the moment.”

Worrying, but Minghao gets it. “Okay, well, here if you need anything.”

Hansol sits down at his usual table, spreading his contents out over the desk. He really does look tired - the bone-deep tired, the one where stress and worry have been worrying you down and keeping you up for a week straight.

Minghao keeps an eye on him, making sure he’s okay, but he barely even seems to notice the larger groups that come in. They keep Minghao unfortunately distracted for a while, and when Minghao can finally look back at Hansol, he’s got his fingers pressed into his eyes like he’s trying to stop tears.

Without really thinking it through, he goes up to the shake machine.

“I uh, made the shake for drive-through already,” Junhui says awkwardly, coming up next to him.

“I know,” Minghao says patiently, putting a large cup under it and pressing the strawberry flavour.

“You don’t have any orders,” Junhui points out.

“I did, for one strawberry thickshake. And then it was cancelled, and would you look at that, looks like I made the shake already. Wouldn’t want it to go to waste.”

Junhui stares at him with something like a mix of disbelief and worry. But then he follows Minghao to the view of the counter, where he sees Hansol, bent over and taking off his headphones, rubbing frustratedly at the back of his head.

“Ah,” he says.

“Soonyoung,” Minghao says, stepping into the office once Junhui’s aware of the situation. “I’m going on break.”

Soonyoung nods, barely taking his attention off the computer, and Minghao walks over to Hansol’s table, gently placing the cup onto a clear section of the table.

“Did you want any company?” He asks Hansol gently, giving him the clear option to refuse. Hansol seems like he’s going to, but then rubs his eyes again and sits back.

“I think I do, actually,” his voice has this slight wobble in it, but he pulls it together remarkably fast. “Are you on break?”

“Twenty eight minutes remaining,” Minghao confirms. “Did you wanna rant about it?”

Hansol helplessly gestures to his laptop, where Minghao can see that Hansol has an audio mixer program pulled up, editing a file. Minghao slips in to sit beside him, looking it over. He doesn’t have a lot of knowledge about anything with music - leaving it to Soonyoung to deal with for their crew. He doubts he can actually help Hansol with it, but he’ll do his best to help Hansol himself.

“So, work huh?” Minghao prods, because talking logically about it may help. Mingyu responds well to it, when he’s looked at it logically and knows he won’t fail, that his previous scores are enough to carry him even if it all does go wrong - and if not, they work on creating a plan.

Hansol groans. “Yeah, don’t remind me. I usually have all sorts of ideas, but I’ve got nothing beyond this-” he gestures to the screen, “and I’m hating it. I don’t know, it’s just really frustrating.”

“When do they need it by?” Minghao asks, hoping he’s not going to say _tomorrow,_ because that’ll ruin his entire poorly-formulated plan in his head.

“Tuesday they want a file.”

Minghao counts off his fingers in an exaggerated manner. “Okay, giving you one, two, three, four days to do it, and I’m assuming the file will be going back and forth anyway until everyone’s happy, right?”

“Right,” Hansol answers in the following silence. “It’s just - yeah, I usually have something ready to go immediately, so I’m feeling some of the pressure.”

“Four days will be fine. But honestly, Hansol, right now you gotta sleep. You’re cute in just about anything, but those eye-bags are honestly just not your style.”

Hansol laughs weakly, and that’s when Minghao realises he’s just sort of blurted out that he thinks Hansol is cute _to his face._

_It’s fine, it’s fine, he probably hears it all the time._

Hansol doesn’t look convinced about the plan though, and Minghao reaches forward and saves the file for him, making sure all the programs are fine before he shuts the lid. “Go _home,_ Hansol. You just need to recharge a bit and sleep, and I’m sure ideas will come to you.”

There’s a cute scrunch in his eyebrows, but it’s interrupted by a large yawn. “Fine, fine, I’ll get some sleep.”

“I better not see you here tomorrow either. Seriously, you need to get some sleep and just relax or something,” which is not the greatest advice Minghao’s ever given, because he knows it’s not exactly as easy as he makes it sound, but if it makes Hansol listen then he doesn’t care.

“But I like it here,” Hansol mutters, but he’s packing away his bag. He looks like he’s about to say something else, but stops himself, shaking his head.

“It’s a fast food restaurant, Hansol, your standards are shockingly low. Come on, out you go.” He ushers Hansol out of his seat, the other now smiling properly.

“Okay okay, I got it, I got it, I’m going,” he says, once Minghao starts forcibly pushing him to the door. Hansol stops his weight right before he hits the door, turning to Minghao. “Hey, uh, thanks dude. For the shake, and for, uh, this I guess.”

Minghao smiles at him. “Go get some rest, preferably not on any sidewalks on the way home. I’ll see you later, okay?”

“Okay,” Hansol answers, nodding as he walks out the door.

While he’s still worried, Hansol looks a little more lively and happier than when he had walked in, so Minghao’s counting it as successful.

Hansol obviously takes Minghao’s threat into account, not appearing the next night (and after hearing about it, Soonyoung _finally_ let him go on headset for the night). Minghao feels concerned, worried about if it was the right advice - but remembering how exhausted Hansol looked, he knows it was. He just hopes it helps Hansol, even if he does miss their conversations.

Sunday, Hansol walks in to the store five minutes after Minghao’s started, beaming widely and basically skipping up to the counter, which Soonyoung’s put him back on already.

He definitely looks better, eye-bags still there but certainly not as bad, and he’s definitely shredded a lot of the stress that had settled into his frame. Minghao’s overwhelmingly relieved that the night off did him well.

“I finally think I got something I like! I mean, they might not, but I feel a lot better about the whole thing,” Hansol excitedly tells him, words spilling over one another. Minghao’s smiling along without even realising, swept up with Hansol’s excitement.

“I’m sure they’ll love it dude,” Minghao sincerely tells him, because he can tell that _this_ is what Hansol’s passionate about, that he pours his heart and soul into his work everytime, with nothing less but a very high standard.

“I hope so,” Hansol laughs, “I’ll probably be able to finish it up tonight.”

“You _have_ to stop finishing things past midnight,” Minghao scolds, but he doesn’t really mean it. After all, when else is he going to see Hansol?

“These are the best hours though,” Hansol grins. “Besides, I only do it on the weekends.”

“Guess that makes two of us.”

Minghao doesn’t bother asking Hansol if he’s here for anything - Hansol usually buys something anyway, even if it’s after a couple of hours, and Minghao… Well, he doesn’t really want it to seem like he only enjoys Hansol’s money, rather than his company.

Hansol laughs again, and Minghao’s just glad the other is so bright and happy after the other night. “So, when are you on break?”

Minghao tells his heart to _calm down._ He probably doesn’t mean anything by it. “Uh, whenever, I suppose?”

“Cool, would you mind listening over the track when you’re on? You really did help last time,” Hansol tells him, and now there’s a shy little smile on his face. Minghao grins back, even when Soonyoung comes around the corner.

“He’s on break whenever you want him,” Soonyoung announces, and Minghao turns around and hits him in the arm. “Hey, I’m your manager!”

“You’re a big pain in the ass is what you are,” Minghao hisses, and Soonyoung poutily rubs his arm.

“Uh, I- thanks. Give me a couple of hours or so?” Hansol interrupts, and Minghao stops and turns to him.

“Yeah, however long you need, no stress. I’m not going anywhere.”

Hansol nods and shoots him a thumbs up before going down and sitting at his usual table. Soonyoung stands beside him until Hansol’s got his headphones on, and then leans right into Minghao’s space.

“Ask him _out_ already will you?”

“Shut _up,_ I don’t even know if he’s single! Or gay!”

“Oh, I can promise you that you don’t have to worry about that.”

“Oh yeah, how would you know?” He asks, right before he remembers that Soonyoung has been his friend longer.

“Just trust me, I know.”

Minghao sighs heavily, shaking his head. Mingyu’s come up into the conversation at some point after helping Chan with some of the stock in the back, and looks over at Hansol.

“Are we talking about how not-straight Hansol is? Particularly for a certain _someone?”_ He asks, and Soonyoung hums.

“That is indeed what we are talking about,” Soonyoung says, at the same time Minghao says “Jesus christ _stop,_ he’s going to hear you.”

“No he won’t, he never hears anything the second he’s got his headphones in. Here, look,” Soonyoung says, and before Minghao can stop him, very very loudly calls out Hansol’s name.

Minghao’s holding his breath, but Hansol doesn’t even flinch or look over at them. He’s so engrossed in his own little world that he doesn’t even register them all looking at him.

“See?” Soonyoung sounds stupidly smug, so Minghao turns to hit him in the other arm.

“Never do that again,” he demands, and Soonyoung throws his hands up in surrender. Thankfully, though, they leave him be as Soonyoung goes to check on Chan and Mingyu starts restocking the drinks station.

It’s quiet, peaceful, as the hours slowly go by. Hansol comes up once, to get his thickshake, and tells Minghao to wait just a little bit longer.

Finally, Hansol comes up to the counter. His eyes look tired, but there’s an excited buzz to him, pushing all fatigue away as he bounces on his feet. Soonyoung laughs and punches Minghao in for his break, and Minghao follows him back to the table.

“It’s uh, it’s pretty rough, and sort of thrown together over yesterday and today, so. Keep expectations low, okay?”

Hansol’s hands have a little shakiness to them as he passes Minghao the headphones, a nervous look in his eyes. Minghao slips the headphones on and waits, keeping a small smile on his face to ease Hansol.

He’s listened to plenty of demo tracks before, dances needing to be choreographed before the final version is released, and he can usually pick out places that need improvement or tweaking - but this?

This has Minghao slipping off the headphones at the end of the track, meeting the eyes of a still-nervous Hansol.

“Dude, play that again. Play it for me for the next half hour,” he demands, and Hansol lets out a laugh that is a little too loud, releasing all of his nervous energy.

Of course it’s a little rough around the edges, but Minghao loves it already, it’s hard to imagine how good it’ll sound with polishing.

“God, Hansol, if they don’t like this I’ll buy it off you myself,” he says, already picturing some choreography for it. It’s unique, the flow is surprising in all the right ways, and it’s just so damn _good._

“Also, please don’t tell me that’s you singing, you cannot be _that_ perfect.” It’s out his mouth before he can stop it, but by the way Hansol flushes, Minghao doesn’t regret the words.

“It’s not,” he laughs, “god _no._ It’s my roommate, Seungkwan. I was gonna invite him here next week, actually,” he says, and then ducks his head like he wasn’t meant to say it.

“But the rapping,” Minghao says, the suspicion having been lurking since he heard the first word, “that’s you, right?”

“Ah, yeah yeah that’s me,” Hansol’s back to smiling shyly, and Minghao gives an almost-snort in disbelief.

“You’re amazing, I can’t believe someone like you is real, sitting in a fast-food joint at 2 in the morning,” Minghao sighs, and Hansol bumps shoulders with him.

“You’re almost making me sound like I’m cool or something,” Hansol jokes, and Minghao sits back in the seat, smiling at him.

“Hm, you’re right, only the uncool people like strawberry thickshakes,” he says seriously, and Hansol knocks against him again, this time a little harder.

“Hey, I’d rather have my strawberry shakes than be cool.”

His half hour flys by, Mingyu waving him back behind the counter. He makes Hansol promise that he’ll head out soon - and Hansol does, not too long after, the excited buzz never quite leaving his smile as he waves goodbye to Minghao.

The buzz lingers around Minghao too, leaving him soft and warm all the way until his head hits the pillow.

 

* * *

 

The next Friday, Minghao doesn’t notice that Hansol’s come in.

It’s got to do with the fact that there’s an angry middle-aged man yelling at him across the counter. He knew the guy was going to be painful from the second he stepped in, swaying on the spot with his fists clenched. Looking for a fight.

Junhui’s unfortunately occupied with drive-through, and Minghao doesn’t have the time to go around the corner and get Soonyoung. The man saunters up to the counter, demanding a burger they don’t even sell.

He tries - and God, he really does, his voice is as pleasant and as patient as it’s ever been, a fake smile plastered on his face as he explains that they literally don’t sell that burger. The man starts grumbling, then gestures to the board above Minghao’s head.

“That one,” he says, and Minghao looks up at the board like it’ll be any fucking help as to which burger specifically the man loosely gestured to.

“I’m sorry, which burger was it?” And Minghao knows he’s going to lose in this conversation no matter what, so he braces himself. The man swears under his breath, but finally grumbles out the name of the burger.

It’s going okay from there, surprisingly. And then Minghao hands the man his bag with his burger, and the _second_ he reaches into the bag to inspect the burger, Minghao regrets not getting Soonyoung earlier.

“I told you _no fucking tomato!”_ He yells, and Minghao does his best not to visibly bristle. He _knows_ the guy said no such thing, but he plasters back on the smile and apologises, offering another one.

And here he goes, Minghao thinks despondently. He’s calling Minghao all sorts of crap - worthless, stupid, will amount to nothing - all stuff he’s heard before. And then he starts getting racist, and Minghao’s _done._

Thankfully, Chan’s pulled Soonyoung off the phone, quickly pulling him up to the front counter. Soonyoung’s got a fake smile on too, but his eyes are sharp and wary as he steps up.

“Sir,” Soonyoung says politely, “I’m going to ask you to leave. You’re too intoxicated, and you’re threatening my employees, neither of which are tolerated in this store. I can offer you a new burger, as I know my staff member already has.”

The man, predictably, starts yelling at Soonyoung, and then starts yelling at Minghao again. Soonyoung, thankfully, doesn’t flinch, just tilts his head and narrows his eyes. “ _Sir,”_ he repeats, harsher, “We all know you did not specify what you did or did not want on your burger. I’m happy to replace it, because we all make mistakes and I understand you’re not thinking straight, or you can leave right now with _that_ burger.”

The man throws the burger at Minghao, who barely sidesteps in time. It lands on the floor with a sad splat, and Minghao reigns in his temper, knowing he’s going to have to mop up the spilled mess. Chan’s got a grip on his arm, pulling him back from the counter.

“I guess you’re leaving here with none,” Soonyoung mumbles, and then, louder and strongly: “Sir, _leave_ , or I will be calling the police for your violent behaviour.’

The man curses at them some more, but when Soonyoung pulls his phone out of his pocket, the man rolls his eyes, stamps his feet, and then storms out. Minghao knows he’ll be seeing this guy’s face printed soon enough under the ‘do not serve’ list, but right now, he could do with never seeing his face ever again, printed or not.

“Hyung,” Chan quietly prods, “Are you okay?”

Minghao exhales, horrified to find that it’s shaky. His eyes are welling up before he can stop them, and he scrunches his eyes closed, heaving in deep breaths to calm himself down.

He _knows_ that the customer was just spewing hateful, mindless words at him, and it’s nothing he hasn’t gotten before - but. There’s a gnawing doubt that never leaves, a feeling like he’s _lost,_ because he doesn’t really have a set direction, a clear goal in mind.

And being surrounded by college students all the time, students that seem to know _who_ they are, what they want to do, all their goals and dreams and all these accomplishments - it hits hard, some days.

He knows, logically, that he’s _fine,_ that he’s got this job and dance classes that he teaches, has a solid dance crew quickly working their way up in ranks. He doesn’t really need college, not yet at least or if ever, and he’s _okay._ He’s not useless, worthless, and he doesn’t need his life to feel sorted out. He _knows_ this.

But it hurts, a gaping hole in his chest that’s expanding with each breath, and there’s nothing he can quite tell himself to fix it.

He doesn’t cry, not properly, but there’s something stuck in his throat when he goes to speak and reassure Chan that he’s fine, he just needs a moment or two in the freezer or something. Chan rubs his back, only stopping once Soonyoung approaches.

“Hey,” he says softly, “I’m sorry he said that, and I’m sorry I didn’t step in earlier.”

“Don’t apologise for him,” Minghao croaks out, “and don’t worry about it. Really. He was looking for a fight anyway.”

“I’m still sorry,” Soonyoung insists, and Minghao gives him a shaky smile for it.

“Thanks for kicking him out,” he says, knowing there’s no point in arguing the blame. Soonyoung gives him a look like _duh,_ but then his eyes widen in remembering something.

“Oh, man, Hansol’s asking if you’re alright,” he says suddenly, and Minghao feels his heart stop.

“He _saw_ that?” He whispers, feeling ashamed all of a sudden. He knows he shouldn’t, but - but it’s hard to think beyond how he didn’t fight back, just stood blankly as the man hurled insults at him. Not exactly _cool._

“Was walking up when the guy threw the burger,” Junhui suddenly pipes up, giving Minghao a worried look. “I sort of… told him what happened.”

“ _Jun,”_ Minghao whispers harshly.

“Don’t worry,” Junhui reassures, “he’s just worried. Come on, let’s go. Soonyoung, Minghao’s on break.”

“Yeah, yeah I know. Hey, Minghao? I’ll clock your break in after another 15, okay?”

It’s his way of saying sorry again, giving Minghao those free extra 15 minutes. Minghao smiles at him, already feeling a lot more composed than he was five minutes ago, and walks up to Hansol. He’s talking quietly to Junhui until they approach, and Hansol gives him a smile.

“Hey, I heard what happened, I’m sorry that guy was a dick.”

“You definitely shouldn’t apologise for anything,” Minghao says as he walks between the counters. “Besides, comes with the job I guess.”

“It shouldn’t, though. People shouldn’t suck that much.”

“Agreed, but some people just somehow feel better after bossing around people on minimum wage jobs. It’s shit, but not a lot anyone can do.”

Hansol frowns unhappily, but as they’re walking to the table, flings an arm around Minghao’s shoulders. It’s nice, ridiculously so, and Minghao lets himself lean into Hansol’s shoulder until they get to the table.

He expects Hansol to drop his arm entirely, but the other wraps it right back around his shoulders once they’re sitting side by side.

“This is okay, right?” Hansol asks, and Minghao’s so wrapped up in how nice it feels that he barely catches what Hansol means by it.

He manages a weak ‘yeah’, leaning right back into Hansol’s shoulder to show him just how okay it is.

“Hey, I found a really funny video I wanted to show you actually,” Hansol says, pulling out his phone. It doesn’t escape Minghao that he hasn’t talked about college, or work - and the fact he saw a video and thought of _him._

It’s almost strange, thinking of how Hansol’s thought about him outside of these hours. Minghao’s thought (a lot) about him over the week, but there’s a strange sort of feeling to it - they don’t interact outside these overnight shifts, only on weekends, and it almost feels like things between them should just be left here.

But Hansol thinks about him outside of those hours, outside of that bubble, and Minghao’s stomach is doing flips while his heart pumps wildly.

The video leads right into another, and they’re both laughing when Junhui comes over and places two shakes in front of them. It’s his apology, now, for not being there earlier, and while there’s nothing to forgive, he still takes the shake gratefully.

“I’m glad they’re good to you,” Hansol says, so quiet Minghao almost misses it. He’s still got his head on Hansol’s shoulder, and he twists a little to look up at him.

“You are too,” he replies honestly, and watches as red colouring begins to crawl up Hansol’s neck. He doesn’t look down to meet Minghao’s eyes, just awkwardly clears his throat and Minghao thinks that maybe the others were right, maybe he should just ask Hansol out sometime.

Hansol breaks his thoughts by speaking. “So uh, you were speaking Chinese earlier, right?”

Minghao does his best not to recoil in surprise because he doesn’t want to interrupt the whole hug thing they have going on here. He didn’t even notice he had switched, but thinking back on the conversation, Junhui had slipped with it first, and he didn’t notice the change.

“I… Yeah. It’s my first language, as well as Jun’s.”

Hansol hums, Minghao feeling it through his chest. “You know what the worst thing is? When you forget a word in the language you’re speaking, and then switch to another language, but then the other person has no idea what you’re talking about?”

Minghao laughs, all too knowing. “God, yeah.”

And the next half hour is so easy, talking to Hansol about languages, cultures, all sorts of things that when he clocks back in, he’s smiling and the stone that had settled in his stomach has pretty much gone, forgotten in the face of his conversation with Hansol.

When Hansol goes to leave, he comes up to the counter, and Minghao goes around the counter and hugs him, thanking him. Hansol hugs him back - and God, Minghao could definitely deal with being hugged a hell of a lot more.

Soonyoung, Junhui and Chan’s worried looks disappear as soon as they see him, and Minghao watches as the sun rise, grateful for those that surround him.

 

* * *

 

The next night, Minghao starts worrying if things will be different, awkward between them, but it’s a worry for nothing. He slides into the booth with Hansol, as he always does, but then Hansol wraps his arm around him again and - yeah, Minghao could get used to this.

It happens the next night, and Mingyu, who never heard about Friday’s issue, grins at him as he comes back to the counter. “Dude, are you finally dating?”

“No!” Minghao hisses, slamming a hand over his mouth. “No, no, it’s… New, okay?”

Mingyu gives him a flat, disbelieving look, but lets it drop all the same for the night. And then, thankfully, the next week is all too distracted with the person that Hansol walks in with to bother pestering him.

Mingyu stands next to Minghao as Hansol and his friend approach, and Minghao resists the urge to elbow him away.

“He’s so _cute,”_ Mingyu whines under his breath as the friend talks animatedly with Hansol, gesturing wildly to the boards. Minghao can almost freeze-frame the moment where Seungkwan’s eyes meet Mingyu’s, and Minghao laughs a little.

Hansol approaches the counter, grinning. “Hey, this is Seungkwan, my roommate.”

Minghao waves, and this time does nudge Mingyu when the other doesn’t follow his actions. Mingyu jolts, then gives a jolted wave. “H-Hey,” Mingyu manages, and Minghao barely stops himself rolling his eyes.

Seungkwan gives Minghao a quick once-over before smiling at him, waving back. Then his attention is all on Mingyu after that, and Minghao doesn’t mind in the slightest.

Hansol tells him excitedly about how well his job is going, that his client (unsurprisingly) loved it, and they’re working together for a final track. They talk more about Hansol’s job, his classes, and Minghao’s own dancing, until Mingyu’s pulled away from his conversation with Seungkwan by the drive-through going off.

Seungkwan walks back up to Hansol, and neither of them miss how red Seungkwan’s cheeks are. Minghao says nothing, and neither does Hansol, so Seungkwan clears his throat awkwardly and asks Minghao for a small fries.   
  
“Here, I’ll pay,” Hansol offers, and Seungkwan looks between them before nodding, saying his thanks before going to sit down. “I’ll add my shake to that.”

Minghao puts the order in, both of them quiet as Hansol pays. Then, Hansol leans across the counter, a small smile on his lips.

“So, Mingyu’s single right?”

Minghao laughs delightedly, looking over at the man in question. “God yeah, I hope Seungkwan is too?”

Hansol just smiles wider at him, nodding in excitement. They share a laugh, and Minghao pulls away to go get Hansol’s food.

“So, you should ask Seungkwan on a date,” Minghao says to Mingyu while they’re standing near the bags, Mingyu packing his order as Minghao shoves the fries into a bag for Seungkwan (a large, because the fries are fresh and they’ll go to waste later anyway).

“Do not,” Chan suddenly seethes at Minghao, interrupting Mingyu’s reply, “say a _thing_ while you still haven’t asked Hansol on a date.”

Mingyu’s grinning now, and Minghao huffs. “How about this,” Mingyu offers, “I’ll ask Seungkwan on a date if you ask Hansol on one?”

“Hm,” is all Minghao says to that, then turns around and calls out for Hansol to get his food. They both drop it, though, because Chan looks genuinely annoyed now, and it leaves an awkward tension around them all.

Finally, Soonyoung lets Minghao go on his break after a couple of hours, and thankfully Hansol and Seungkwan have hung around. Seungkwan’s gotten up and is talking to Mingyu across the counter when Minghao goes to sit down with Hansol, sliding right into his side.

“They’d be cute,” Hansol says to him, and Minghao nods in agreement. Seungkwan’s so bright and lively, and Mingyu’s bouncing right off the energy, both of them getting along and already teasing each other.

“Hey,” Minghao says, Chan’s words ringing around in his head, and the words slip out under a false pretense of confidence. He can do this, he _can,_ he’s pretty sure Hansol likes him back after all, and if he doesn’t then it’s _fine,_ and he’s okay with that, and knows Hansol won’t let it get awkward between them. It’ll be okay, and if anything then at least Minghao tried.

Unfortunately, it’s at the same time that Hansol says the exact same thing, and they both laugh nervously. Minghao sits up properly, gesturing for Hansol to go ahead. Hansol flushes, eyes darting away before he resolutely looks back at Minghao, determined.

“Uh, did you - not tonight, obviously, but maybe go out and get like… proper milkshakes together?” Hansol stammers, voice a little too loud and a little too rushed with nerves. Minghao can’t stop his huge sigh of relief, his heart still beating wildly - just a little less with nerves, a lot more with excitement.

“A date, right?” Minghao confirms, and Hansol nods.

“Yeah, yeah, I mean it’s cool if you don’t want to! And it’s not like I don’t enjoy the shakes here, but… Yeah, no it’s totally okay if you don’t want to.”

“Hansol,” Minghao laughs, and Hansol tilts his head in a ridiculously cute way that has Minghao’s breath catch. “Hansol, I was going to ask you on a date.”

“Oh thank _God,”_ Hansol breathes out, falling forward into Minghao’s chest. Minghao turns his head to see them in the window’s reflection, and he’s smiling so widely that it makes him laugh a little. 

“Oh!” Hansol suddenly says, shooting up, “we should add each other, you know, to our phones. I was meant to ask you for a while now, but you never brought yours out so uh, actually, do you own a phone?”

Minghao laughs again. “I do, I just don’t bring it out with me because I prefer talking to you.”

Hansol’s eyes widen, and he ducks his head quickly to hide his blush. He pushes his own phone across the table, unlocking it with his fingerprint. “Here, you add your number then.”

Minghao quickly does, even though it takes a couple of times with his fumbling fingers. He saves his name under ‘Shaker Maker’, and Hansol snickers when he sees it.

“That’s a terrible name,” Hansol tells him, but Minghao sees him save it all the same.

It goes back relatively to normal from there, Hansol showing him another collection of funny videos, and they talk until Mingyu tells Minghao his break was up three minutes ago.

When Minghao goes to get up, there’s a brief second of courage that he works up, but it’s enough to lean in and press a kiss to Hansol’s cheek. Hansol’s staring in surprise, and Minghao grins and ruffles his hair lightly before walking back behind the counter, ignoring Chan’s dramatic call of “ _finally! Hey, Soonyoung-hyung, you missed it!”_

Minghao can’t even bring himself to shush both of them once they begin to pester him, simply catching Hansol’s eye and they both share a secretive, small smile.

Everything feels a little soft around the edges as the minutes go by, like it does in these hours, right before dawn. A strange dream-like quality, almost, that makes everything feel a little out of reach of reality, something to let go once the sun rises.

But as Hansol waves goodbye with a big smile, leaving Minghao with a very real, warm feeling in his chest, Minghao thinks to himself that _this_ is something he’s going to hold onto forever, after every sunrise to come.

  


**Author's Note:**

> can you tell I work in fast food lmfao, all this happens just minus the cute customers who actually clean up their rubbish and managers being cool like soonyoung.  
> also hansol's wifi was totally working by the second night oop.  
> SO anyway i had like three sort-of written fics for mingsol, lost all inspiration, and then wrote 11k of this in a few days because I'm the worst. also not proofread because i am, once again, terrible. Regardless of my mess, a seriously huge thank you to the organisers of the fic fest, I adore Mingsol all too much and had lots of fun writing this :') <3


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